Press Releases

Executive Director Maura Collins announced that Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has hired Seth Leonard of Winooski for the newly created position of Managing Director of Community Development. Leonard comes to VHFA from the USDA Office of Rural Development, where he served as Housing Program Director for Vermont and New Hampshire. Prior to that, Leonard worked at VHFA for four years as Homeownership Outreach Coordinator.

New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) President/CEO John J. Dwyer, Jr. announced today a $500,000 grant from NEFCU to Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) to address the area’s shortage of housing affordable to Vermonters with low and moderate incomes. The money will support construction and renovation costs for perpetually affordable homes in Bristol, Jericho and several other towns.

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today the launch of a robust, free resource connecting Vermonters to information about housing vacancies and community needs. Low and moderate income Vermonters who lack adequate, stable housing they can afford suffer elevated health and safety risks. This recently reinvented resource, known as the Vermont Housing Data website, represents years of collaboration among stakeholders seeking to increase the number of stably housed Vermonters through state of the art information sharing tools.

This week Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) received national recognition for pioneering the use of state housing tax credits to provide down payment assistance to low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since the Vermont Affordable Housing Tax Credit was originally created in 2000 to fund creating and preserving affordable apartments for low income renters, VHFA led the effort to expand it to help two more types of underserved Vermonters: first-time home buyers and buyers of energy-efficient manufactured homes.

The Board of Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today the selection of Maura Collins of Essex Junction for the position of Executive Director. Collins will step into her new role on the first of the year when Sarah Carpenter, the agency's Executive Director for the past 20 years, retires. Since joining VHFA in 2002, Collins has held several positions at the agency, most recently as Deputy Director.

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today that later this year Sarah Carpenter, Executive Director, will be retiring, after twenty years at the agency’s helm. “As a result of Sarah’s vision and skill thousands of Vermonters have moved into decent, affordable homes since she arrived at VHFA in 1998,” said Randy Amis, chair of VHFA’s Board of Commissioners. “She has expertly led VHFA’s financial activities and programs, built strong partnerships and shared her deep expertise with state and federal policy makers. Vermont is a better place to live thanks to Sarah’s impact.”

On Monday, April 16 the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners committed federal Housing Tax Credits and Vermont Affordable Housing Credits to construct and renovate apartments for low-income Vermonters over the next several years. The $3.5 million in ten-year federal capped credits, $319,000 in ten-year federal uncapped “bond” credits and $173,000 in five-year state credits will support the development of 251 apartments in eight communities across the state. VHFA permanent and construction financing totaling $19 million was also approved for five of the projects.

This week the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners approved plans to sell $37 million of bonds during the week of January 8, 2018 as the first Sustainability Bonds to be issued in the State of Vermont.

VHFA announced today that David Adams, Chief of Program Operations, will be retiring from the agency on November 17, 2017. Concurrently, Maura Collins will be promoted to the position of Deputy Director. “Dave has expertly led our programs through the turbulent economic and mortgage industry changes of the past two decades,” VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter explained. “His dedication to VHFA’s mission and unmatched mortgage banking experience have led to many ground-breaking improvements in how our programs operate.”